Fall into You

What a fantastic Saturday we had this weekend. We have been a bit on the desperate side, to say the least, to get out. We had our hearts set on going out to dinner on our anniversary last weekend. We actually lined up a babysitter, a woman who used to work at Animal's daycare center. They loved each other. She knew all of my daughter's wierd little quirks and Animal felt comfortable with her. We picked out a place down the road from us. I chose something to wear that didn't involve yoga pants. I worked a few extra hours to have a few extra dollars to spend. Then the fever and subsequent ear infection came for poor Animal and we called it off. The poor baby. So, we ordered take-out of a slightly higher quality than we usually splurge for and watched the first two episodes of Desperate Housewives and went to bed.

So, we were itching to get out, even if it wasn't for strictly adult time. Fall is our favorite time of the year, so what better to do for a celebration of it than go to a cider mill for fresh apple cider and freshly-made donuts? Okay, a few freshly-made donuts, a CRAZY apple crisp split between us and a bit of my husband's Johnny Cakes. It's a place called Clyde's Cider Mill. But before we hit the mill, my husband, being the incredible good sport he is, indulged me on a quick stop in Ledyard to this crazy old farmstead that I believe is part of a land trust so I could obsessively photograph the buildings. Because that's what I do. If you ever need photographs of agricultural outbuildings, I'm your gal.

Oh so useful. Anywho, it was a gorgeous day so we did a bit of the trail adjacent to it. Nice start to the day, I'd say. Then, on to Clyde's. I love apples in the fall.

My father-in-law used to take my husband and his sister there when they were kids, so it has fond memories for him. He and I have gone several times, I guess in off-peak moments, because it was nothing like the zoo it was on Saturday. Tons of people (mostly with NY license plates and shoes that didn't belong tromping around a cider mill, my husband noticed) milling around (get it? "milling" around? ha. ha.), cars parked up and down this normally slow rural road, a three-piece band playing Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, kids running around all hopped up on donuts. Yet, it was still fantastic. Animal was enthralled both by the kids playing among the pumpkins and the resonation pumpkins make when you slap them with an open hand. I, along with every other yuppy mother there, felt compelled to catch it all on film. I sicken myself sometimes, yet can't stop myself from partaking.

After coming down from our own sugar high, we made a quick visit with my mother-in-law who had just had knee surgery in a neighboring town. She looked good. Fit and fiesty as ever, I was glad to see. We ran a few errands in my husband's hometown, visited his dad's boat, and headed home. Millie was a bit crankish on the ride home, but she was hungry and tired and had been super dooper trooper all day.

Sunday was a different story. Husband and Animal both woke up with colds (how she can have a cold AND be on Augmentin blows my mind.) and she was miserable. Clingy. Whiny. Temper-filled. I felt for the two of them. Animal is asleep at the moment; I can hear her snoring in the monitor, the poor thing. She was fantastic this morning, though, when mommy was chained to the bathroom getting sick for most of the pre-Sesame Street hours. She's fantastic when it counts. She's so damned cute, I could just bite her. Even with the abrasion to her cheek caused by her falling with her toothbrush in her mouth. Just like her mama.